0:17Skip to 0 minutes and 17 secondsSome hit songs are forgotten within six months. But other songs have more staying power. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is one of those songs. It was a hit not only in 1975 when it was first released, but again in 1992. And in the last decade, covers of the song by everyone from Panic at the Disco to the Muppets have also hit the charts. Hi. I'm Dr. Tim Byron and I'm a music psychologist. And I teach at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. This is one of Australia's leading music and performing arts schools, offering a wide variety of specialist degrees from classical music, jazz, opera, popular music, to musical theatre, acting, music technology, and music education.

1:04Skip to 1 minute and 4 secondsThis course aims to explain the processes by which the sounds that come into your ear when you play the song are turned into a feeling of satisfaction when it gets to your favourite part of the song. We're going to try and answer some of the big questions about music from a psychological angle. Why does the song feel so good to me? Why do vibrations of the air, sounds in other words, turn into emotions? We will explore what goes into feeling emotions and what goes into listening to music. And then we'll examine how these processes work together to give you the thrill of listening to a great song.

What topics will you&nbspcover?

Why does music make us feel things?

Why do we feel things in the first place? What are emotions and moods, exactly?

How do emotions work?

What is it about music that makes us feel things? How do musicians set up expectations?

Why should they make you expect anything? How do different expectations lead to emotions?

When would you like to&nbspstart?

Date to be announced

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What will you&nbspachieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Explore the psychology of emotions as they relate to music

Explain the basis by which music manipulates our expectations of music to evoke emotions

Reflect on how musical emotional experiences are influenced by our differing expectations in specific musical examples

Who is the course&nbspfor?

This course is open to anyone interested in music psychology, but may be of particular interest to songwriters and composers.